Happy New Year, Plus Miracles

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excelleration_happy_new_year

Happy New Year!  I hope those who celebrate had a joyful Christmas and Hanukkah. 

Like most of us, I have been thinking about what to create in 2017.  My theme for 2016 was EASE — which, frankly, was rather life-altering. There are numerous ways to create a greater sense of ease in life and I tackled most, if not all, of them. I worked on creating better systems for managing work, upgraded my health, and shifted my mindset in various ways to facilitate ease. It was a kick-ass theme if I do say so myself, which made it a hard act to follow; but after the holidays the new theme sprang full-grown from my head like Athena. My theme for 2017 is (drum roll please)…. MIRACLES!  

By miracles, I am not referring to “water into wine” or teleportation (my favorite fantasy for avoiding traffic). Rather, I mean the things that seem impossible but don't actually defy the laws of physics.  Consider these examples:

  • Your apathetic teenager finally starts taking school seriously and doing his homework without constant harassment
  • You resolve amicably a previously poisonous relationship with a colleague
  • You create a new niche and your practice takes off like never before
  • You find peace and serenity (despite your “type A” personality)
  • You reconnect with that family member who voted differently in the presidential election
  • The important client that refused to sign a conflicts waiver (even though there isn’t a real conflict) finally comes around
  • Your parent with dementia agrees to move into a care facility

No one is getting sainted for this kind of “miracle”, but they sure do make us happier.  In coaching terms these would be called breakthroughs—when you have been stuck but create a shift in perspective and behavior that opens up a whole new world and the results are amazing.  As a coach, my goal is always to help people create breakthroughs, if that is what the client wants (some prefer a more gradual approach).  Nevertheless, like all of us, there are times in my own life where I get stuck and resigned. 

I got engaged this year to a wonderful man and we will get married in May.  Friends and family have wanted to go wedding dress shopping with me but I have been avoiding it because I wanted to lose weight first, and that just hasn’t happened.  For months, every time someone asked me about my dress, or the wedding in general, I would get anxious.  However, just this week, standing in my commitment to miracles, I found a store that sells designer dresses at heavily discounted prices and then donates the proceeds to a women’s shelter.  It sounds perfect on so many levels, and now I’m planning on a “miracle”.  In this case, a miracle would mean finding a dress I love in one day of shopping.  

This may sound trivial, and certainly when I think about miracles, clothing is nowhere on the list; but I share this example because we all have issues or topics in our lives where we feel frustrated and resigned even though the obstacle is far from insurmountable.  In 2017, I am standing for miracles large and small for me, for you, for our society.  May you have that perfect magical moment with your spouse of 25 years. May you find the job or client of your dreams.  May the tragedies of this world be resolved quickly and peacefully. 

Last year a friend and I had biweekly calls focusing on ease. We would talk about where it was showing up in our lives and explore how to create even more ease. Starting this week I’m going to shift the focus to miracles. I’ve created miracles in my life many times before, but it still takes something each time, a new level of focus, will or letting go, a new perspective, a renewed commitment, some sort of shift. Even when our own lives are going great, we all have friends, family or colleagues who could use a miracle; not to mention our communities, our countries and the world.  To me, standing for miracles encompasses it all, from trivial things like my dress situation to finding ways to address the most terrible and tragic things we are experiencing as a society.  When I saw the New Year's Eve bombing in Istanbul, I was heart broken. Terrorism and other tragedies keep happening and it’s very easy to just get resigned and ignore it.  The great thing about creating miracles in life (even the little ones) is that it strengthens our ability to see possibilities and take actions in other areas. So, I invite you to join me in creating miracles this year.  I’m not sure what it will look like or how it will happen, but that is the great thing about getting in the miracle groove---life is an adventure and anything is possible. Share in the comments, or email me directly, about the miracles will you create this year. 

Wishing you love, joy and, of course, miracles in the 2017!

Sincerely,
Anna